Wood Group contractors vote to strike
The ballot result on North Sea has come back with UNITE and RMT members voting to take industrial action.
The ballot result on North Sea has come back with UNITE and RMT members voting to take industrial action.
Wood Group contractors on Shell platforms are angry at the latest pay cuts - with 99.1 per cent of those voting backing strikes.
The unions say that in total, proposed cuts to employees terms and conditions would see workers lose out on around 30% of their pay.
John Boland, Unite Regional Officer said; “Despite the best efforts of the Full time Officials and workforce Shop Stewards to broker a deal with the company, talks have failed to find an acceptable deal for the workforce.
"We now find ourselves forced down the route of industrial action and in the coming days the workforce will determine the timing and nature of that action.
"That said, we remain available for talks should the company wish to consider an alternative offer.
"However, any talks must respect the workers and especially with regards to exercising their democratic rights in a dispute situation.
"Therefore the move by Shell to engage a scab labour workforce through various agencies to cover any potential industrial action is extremely disturbing.” Jake Molloy, RMT Regional Organiser said; “After two rounds of redundancy, the imposition of an additional 4 to 5 weeks of work annually, forced to work a 3:3 rota, the increase in workload, and the restrictions on leave, this battered and bruised workforce are being told they have to accept all of this with a reduction in salary of anything from 10 to 30%.
"The workforce message is clear, ‘Enough is Enough’ and it’s little wonder we find ourselves in this situation.”
Wood Group says its priority has to be safeguarding jobs for the future, as the sector struggles in the oil price crisis, and it'll continue to speak to staff and the unions